my legs are weak
by a cold day in december
Summary: Ally ends up in hospital because of her illness and Austin stays with her to make sure she's perfectly okay. / Auslly, Established Relationship. AU. Oneshot/drabble. / Now with an added sequel, because everyone loves a happy ending.
1. Chapter 1

**disclaimer: **I own nothing at all.

**prompt: **hospital stay.

**music: **my legs are weak – paloma faith

**a/n: **The disease Austin and Ally will talk about is called **Addison's disease.** It kind of causes fatigue and muscle weakness, along with other symptoms. The other things they'll talk about are some cures for it. You can look it up if you want to know more.

So yeah. Hope you like it. Probably more of these drabbles to come.

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**my legs are weak**

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:::

"You're so silly, you know that Ally?" She turns to look at him through weary eyes, but the glare is still visible in her gaze. "I mean, falling down the stairs? Really?"

"Yes, really." She says sharply and tries to remove her hand from his grasp. A deep whine comes from the back of her throat as he doesn't let go; only holding on tighter. "If you're going to be mean to me, then you can just leave."

She turns to lie on her back and he rests their interlocked hands across her stomach.

"Okay fine, I'll shut up."

_Thank you,_ she mumbles and he gives her hand a gentle squeeze.

"You wouldn't want me to leave anyway." Austin says, breaking the silence. "Then I couldn't entertain you, look after you, sing you songs."

"I guess." She says quietly.

He looks at her for minutes before nudging her side, causing her to move over in the tiny hospital bed. He couldn't feel the warmth radiating off of her like he thought he should, so he placed a hand on her petite waist.

"God, Ally, you're freezing." He said, scooping her up in his arms, her back firmly against his chest. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't want to bother you." She said tiredly, her voice quiet and croaky. He sighed and stroked her hair lightly with the hand that had previously been on her waist.

"Don't be silly Als, you could never bother me." She shifted slightly and turned to look up at from underneath her thick lashes.

"I hate hospitals." She whispered and his eyes softened. He wrapped the covers tightly around both of them, her in an overly large t-shirt of his that she insisted on wearing, and him fully clothed.

"I know, baby. You won't have to come back here for much longer."

"You can't know that." She said dejectedly. "The steroids didn't work – what if the androgen stuff doesn't?" He could see the fear in her eyes, clear as day. Austin figured this may not be the time to voice his own fears.

He kissed her forehead gently before he spoke. "The Addison's will go away, okay? You're not leaving me and I'm never going to leave you."

"Okay." She mumbled obediently before burying her head into his chest.

"I'm sorry I said you were silly, before, you know, for falling down the stairs." Austin whispered quietly. "You just act so normally sometimes I forget that I need to be worried about you."

He felt her crying through his shirt and held her tighter. "You shouldn't have to worry about me." Ally said, her voice cracking halfway through the sentence.

"I _want _to worry about you, Ally." He sighed. "God... you mean so much to me."

They lay in silence, listening to the faint beep of a heart monitor. Austin knew very well that he wasn't supposed to be here, with Ally, alone in the dark hours of the night. However, the doctors had been so used to seeing him with her, they didn't even bother anymore.

Austin wondered did they feel bad for Ally, that was why they let him stay.

He erased the thought from his mind, looking down at Ally to find she was already looking up at him. "What were you thinking about?" She questioned him with a sorrowful face.

"Nothing important." He said, leaning in for a kiss. With the little strength she had, she kissed him back, and the warmth from his lips was a small comfort.

She lay back on his chest, drifting into a drowsy sleep without even trying. Austin knew her signs of sleep and got comfortable, cuddling her to him even more.

"Sing me a song, Austin, please." Her voice was weak and small, so tired. He wished he could take the pain away, but he knew he would have to allow her small pleasure in the mean time.

"_When I close my eyes I see you, the dimples in your cheeks, I forgot to thank you for the things_,_" _He sang to her. "_Cause I didn't see you for weeks. Woke up this morning and hoped for a dream, but reality sat next to me and forced me to believe..."_ He trailed off.

The quiet sound of her rhythmic breathing filled his ears and he sighed for the umpteenth time.

"The treatment will work, Ally." He said to her sleeping form. "It's gonna work, and you're going to be as good as new. Until they give you the androgen, I'll do anything for you. I'll carry you everywhere, bridal style – I'll do anything."

He looked at the girl sleeping beneath him. She was curled slightly, into a little ball and he'd never seen anything more adorable. "I love you."

Kissing the tip of her nose, Austin drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**disclaimer: **I obviously own nothing.

**prompt: **scars

**music: **give me strength – snow patrol

**a/n:** so you all wanted a part dos, and here you go. this is supposed to be heart-warming, so when you read it please try not to, I don't know, read things the wrong way, okay?

**iust a note: **I don't know if this kind of surgery does leave scars, so please don't sue me if it doesn't. I tried my best to research about the process, but yeah. I don't actually know where the surgery is performed on the body either so... just go with it!

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**my legs are weak: part deux**

_hidden in the scars_

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:::

When Austin woke up, he was alone in the bed. For a moment he flailed, scrabbling for purchase on the underside of the bed, since Ally was seemingly absent.

Sitting bolt upright, he pressed the buzzer for one of the nurses, who came minutes later. She gave him a small smile which he did not return.

"Where's Ally?" He demanded. Austin was vaguely aware his voice sounded childish, petulant. As if he were a little boy again, asking angrily why his mother had taken his favourite toy away.

"She's gone in for her surgery, dear." Austin's eyes widened. "She got worse in the night – there was nothing they could do but take her away and do the surgery immediately." As she spoke, Austin increasingly felt his blood flowing under his skin, boiling, and the sound of his heart drumming hard against his chest resounded in his ears.

"Why did no one wake me?" He shouted angrily, arms splaying everywhere, indignant. He wanted to be with Ally the whole way, yet they had shut him out when she needed him most.

"Dear, you needed some rest." The nurse said kindly, however, this only made him fume more.

"_But Ally needs me!_" He said desperately, fiercely. "I can't do anything for her laying here in bed!"

The nurse's eyes flashed for a moment and all she said was _sit._ Austin felt the life drain out of him, flopping helplessly on the bed. He wondered was this how Ally felt when she got too tired.

"Ally will need someone to be there for her after the surgery." The nurse began. "She will need someone who she can lean on, preferably a rested, helpful boy." She gave him a gentle smile and nodded.

"It was better to let you sleep, because now you can take better care of her." Austin sighed because, well, she was right. She walked out without looking back, and Austin tried to not worry about Ally. he knew that after the sugery, and of course her recovery. She would be fine, and not affected by the Addison's anymore.

However, this was a time when his mind wanted to stray, and things like keeping his mind off of Ally were easier said than done.

* * *

"It hurts, it hurts so badly." Ally moaned, rolling around in the bed while Austin looked at her helplessly.

"Where does it hurt, Als?" He asked gently and took her hand. He started rubbing his thumb delicately across the back of her palm in a soothing manner.

"Everywhere." She said weakly and let out a soft chuckle. "Come and cuddle with me." She said, opening her frail arms wide enough for him to clamber into the bed beside her.

"I don't want to hurt you..." He said nervously. The look on her face was pained and hurt so he just _had_ to get in beside her. He shifted to make sure her weight was on top of him rather than the other way around.

"How was it?" Austin asked, trying to coax an answer out of her.

"I don't really remember most of it; it's all a bit blurry to be honest." Her eyes watered a little and he brushed a stray tear from her face with the pad of his thumb. "I'm glad you're here." She said, giving him the smallest of smiles.

"C'mere." He whispered to her, lightly bushing her lips with his own. He knew she wouldn't be strong enough to kiss him properly yet. "I'm glad you're okay." He said shortly.

As the comfortable silence dragged on, Austin went to place his hands across her stomach, and suddenly felt Ally squirm feebly in his arms.

"What is it Als?" He asked worriedly.

"Not there, please." She paused. "Please don't touch them."

He looked at her openly, eyes wide. "Touch what Als?"

"My... _scars_." She said the words as if they made her disgusting, gross, and Austin didn't like that tone of voice, or that way of thinking. Not at all.

"Ally... You're scars just show that you're stronger." Austin said as kindly as he could.

"No they don't." She shivered. "The make me... _ugly_."

He immediately tensed. "Don't you _dare_ say that about yourself ever again. Do you understand Ally?" She looked at him through tired eyes. "I don't know _anyone_ else who would've got through that as well as you did. You're my little Ally. My little fighter."

Even through those weary eyes, he still saw some of the spark there and smiled.

Pulling back the cover carefully, he adjusted her t-shirt until her scars were shown. He counted four. Two slightly bigger than the others, all in a straight line. He looked at her and she looked back at him, questions being asked and answered even in the silence.

Gently, he kissed all of her scars, following the lines.

When he looked up at her, he saw the tears in her eyes and he lay down beside her again, readjusting her t-shirt.

"Why?" She asked quietly.

"Because you are beautiful. Scars or no scars." He said, feeling the warmth of her palm in both of his own hands. "When you look at those scars, I want you to remember me, and think about how brave you were. How brave I think you are."

She nodded and lay down, but for the first time in a long time, she didn't want to fall asleep. The thought made her smile.

"Ally Dawson." Austin whispered in her ear. "Hidden in your scars are all the things that you are to me, okay?"

"Okay." She said. "I never could've done this without you, you know that don't you?" Her voice was earnest and he smiled happily, fuzzy feeling low in his stomach.

"I know."


End file.
